Arthur
by MangoLover
Summary: Arthur's story, for the 'Giving the Weasleys Justice' story challenge.


Arthur Weasley was born to average middle-class pure blooded wizards, who had already had two sons. The first had been born sickly, and had died long before Arthur was born. Their second son, Bilius was their first healthy heir, his mother was a Black and although she had been disowned for her marriage, she had no desire for any more children, as was usually the custom. This left little Arthur to do as he pleased. He was loved and well cared for by his family, but he had no expectations of being number one, of earning high test scores and the right friends.

Due to this fact, Arthur went to a small wizarding primary school in the village. It was the village school, and although it wasn't prestigious like his brothers' Master Malfoys Preparatory School, he was happy and loved learning. His best friend, a halfblooded wizard named Charles was probably what led Arthur to his love of all things muggle. The young boy would bring things along from home, like broken bits of radios, and Arthus would tell Charles stories about life in his wizarding home. It was a fair trade, and due to their friendship, Arthur gained a curiosity that would live with him the rest of his life – he wanted to know all about the muggle world.

Receiving his Hogwarts letter was a wonderful day, although he had known it would come – he had fallen from a tree at the age of six, and although it was at least a ten meter fall, he had somehow managed to float leisurely for the last few and touch down without a scratch.

Throughout his life, Arthur always followed the belief that you should just work harder than the other men, and keep quiet about it. He was not as bright as some of the boys in his class, but he generally achieved A's, or even the occasional EE. His downfall was in Herbology. Everything he planted mysteriously died, he could never get seeds to even sprout, and the **Fanged Geranium in Greenhouse Four always caught his robes when he walked through the doorway. **

**It was as a fourth year that he first took notice of Molly Prewett – she was fantastic with anything that was green or needed planting, and Professor Sprout, being in her first year of teaching hadn't the time or the patience to help him.**

Molly had helped him care for his plants he needed to grow, and in return, Arthur asked her to attend the Hogwarts Yule dance with him. He kissed her for the first time that night, he couldn't believe that he, boring, average Arthur Weasley, would wind up kissing the most gorgeous witch of his year. He still smiles when he recalls what she was wearing that night – robes of the most beautiful azure blue, almost the same colour as his own eyes. 

**Over time, Molly Prewett became the reason Arthur woke up in the morning, and he spent every moment by her side. Arthur proposed to her the day they graduated from Hogwarts, and her parents disagreed with the union, so in one of her wild moments, Molly had suggested running away and doing it over the weekend. Arthur agreed, although his sensible side had told him to wait, and do it properly.**

The birth of his first child brought tears of joy to Arthur's eyes. It happened so quickly that Arthur took the first job he was offered – filing papers in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts. The pay was low, but it was enough to get them out of his parents' home, and into a tiny, two bedroom cottage.

**As his family grew, so did his little home, the tighter their budget became stretched. He began to work longer hours, and it eventually the strain began to show. Arthur survived most days by getting by on one meal per day – lunch at work was free, and hot. Robes became frayed at the cuffs and collars, and more than once he considered writing to his father and asking for help. Arthur never did it, of course, because he had his pride.**

**Although Arthur loved his children, he occasionally wondered what life would have been like if things had been delayed a little. What if he had married Molly a little later? What if they had waited a while before starting a family? Perhaps he would be a teacher, or a healer. Perhaps Molly would have had her parents' approval, and perhaps they would have inherited his parents' holiday cottage in Kent.**

And perhaps if he hadn't done all that, maybe Molly would have been maimed by a rampaging Blast-Ended Skrewt, or perhaps grabbed by some other lucky man. Perhaps if they hadn't had so many children, they would not have known so much love. Perhaps if the Weasley family had not been the way it was, Harry Potter would not have saved the wizarding world, and the people Arthur held dear. 


End file.
